He left to walk with Ernie and I did my stretches, got ready, packed for today's adventure, and prepped breakfast till he returned at 8:30. After breakfast, the 4 of us left the CG at 9:30 to drive to Pine Island, about 1 1/4 hours away. We parked in the center of the island and headed north towards Bokeelia on our bikes. This is a ride we do every year and I always look forward to it. There is a nice bike path and I like passing all the palm tree nurseries!
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| Great bike path! |
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| So many palm nurseries along the way! |
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| Passion fruit is grown here! |
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| So many varieties of palm trees and they are shipped all around the world from Pine Island! |
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| Passed this osprey nest on our ride! |
We rode 8 miles to the end of the island (Bokeelia) and enjoyed checking out the public fishing pier, the white pelicans, and the osprey nest that we got to see "up close and personal"! Noela and I always enjoy going into the Gift Shop at Captain Con's Restaurant that sells handmade items made by the island craft coop. We were fascinated by the hand tatted jewelry, especially the earrings. She bought a pair of butterflies that were beautiful. We also liked the painted fish made from palm frones. I got permission to take some photos of the fish and we decided we should look for some frones on the ride back.
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| Riding into Bokeelia! |
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| The public fishing pier! |
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| Lots of fishermen today! |
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| We relaxed while Ken walked on the fishing pier! |
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| So much fun to watch the pelicans "dive bomb"! |
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| Pretty, huh? |
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| White pelicans! |
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| This osprey was happy to sit still and pose! |
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| Looks like a very inviting place to sit and relax, but unfortunately it is a private area with No trespassing! |
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| Looks like another craft project for this gal! |
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| More fish with their own personality! |
Right near Bokeelia is the Lazy Flamingo Eatery and that was our choice for lunch. We were able to eat outside overlooking the dock. We all really enjoyed our meals. Back on the bikes and although Ken said he was not getting involved with finding frones, he was on the "look-out" and actually found some great ones that he had to cut with his pocket knife! What a guy! He even held them (and they were long and skinny) while riding for the last 4 miles or so!
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| Quite a nice setting! |
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| This was the view from our table! |
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| The happy foursome! |
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| Ken worked hard to cut the frones! |
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| Even Ernie got in on the act! |
The men loaded the bikes when we got back to the truck (rode 16 miles) and then we stopped in Matlacha at Great Licks for delicious homemade black raspberry chip ice cream, but only the women made the purchase!
We were back to the CG by 5 and by 5:30 Noela and I left to go to Beall's Outlet in Port Charlotte. Neither of us found any clothes to purchase but she did get a candle, hazelnut flavoring, and a lettuce spinner. We returned to the CG at 7:30 and I was empty handed - wow! Ken had already left for Celebrate Recovery. I did some preparation for tomorrow's adventure, worked on my blog, and watched The Voice!
Ken returned at 9:15 and both of us were fairly tired from today's adventure so it was off to bed!
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